Tom Barrack

Thomas J. "Tom" Barrack, Jr. was the founder, chairman, and CEO of the Colony Capital international investment firm in Los Angeles, California and the founder of the "Rebuilding America Now" Super PAC for Donald Trump's candidacy in the 2016 United States presidential elections.

Biography
Thomas J. Barrack, Jr. was born in California to a family that had come to the United States from Beirut, Lebanon two generations before. Barrack worked in real estate, including work with investor Bob Bass at Fort Worth, Texas in the 1980s. Bass and Barrack sought to buy the hotel company, which was located next to one of Donald Trump's buildings. The two sides got into a dispute over the ownership of the toel, and it took 30 lawyers and 50 accountants to fight the court case; it was sold to Trump, but Trump decided to give it to Barrack if Barrack helped him with his real estate ambitions. Barrack and Trump became good friends, and Barrack became a billionaire after founding Colony Capital in Los Angeles, while Trump was also a billionaire from his New York business ventures.

In 2016, he hosted Trump's first major fundraiser after he announced his candidacy for President, and he launched the pro-Trump Super PAC, Rebuilding America Now, in order to fund Trump's run for president. At 9:00 PM on 21 June 2016, he gave a speech in front of the Republican National Convention endorsing Trump, relating stories about Trump, including the Fort Worth deal and Trump's encounter with an Atlantic City hotel doorman named Louie at a Mike Tyson fight (Trump wrote a note to Louie's terminally-ill son, saying that he came to the hotel to see two champions: Tyson and Louie). Barrack was a great speaker at the event, and he refused to talk poorly about Hillary Clinton, saying that Trump's merits were enough to show that he was a worthy candidate.